Saturday, December 31, 2011

Been a long while since I posted any breaks, so here is a box I just got in the mail compliments of Santa. I went with this box because of its value and that you were guaranteed two rookies in the box. Typically I don't buy SPx and not because I dislike the product, I find at 140 a box you don't get the same bang for your buck. This was roughly half that price so lets see how it ends up!

The Rookies

You should get two in the box which I did. One is auto'd and the other isn't. Here is the non-auto rookie:

Oscar Moller

Currently in Europe, I wasn't that excited at first. Swatches are nice and he is young and could find himself back in the NHL sometime in the future. In all, there are certainly worse that could have been here!

Auto Rookie

I was HOPING for Stamkos, but certainly wasn't expecting it. I am happy with this though, I don't have his auto and he is a former Canadian WJHC player so it suits the time of year. He is exiled in Florida at the moment and I hope he is able to find his game there or somewhere else. I believe in his potential and hope he gets there someday!

The Game Used Cards

Each box promises two of these and my first hit was AWESOME!

I have never pulled a Crosby game/photo used anything before so this was a pleasant sight! In addition, it is the most "valuable" Winning Materials card so it also makes this box a winner for me. Glad to add this to my collection even though the swatches are Vanilla!

The other game-used is supposed to be a Winning Combos card which is exactly what this is. I don't mind pulling this card, but I think someone else out there could enjoy it more than I would so I certainly would trade this to anyone interested.

SPXCITEMENT Cards

Each box usually has 4 of these bad boys and once again I didn't do too badly!

Mats Sundin! Not bad, he is available for trade...Carey Price! Same as Mats, he is up for trade..Moose Messier. I was never a huge fan of Mark, so anyone interested in a trade let me know...

Most Xcitement cards are numbered to 999, the spectrum ones like Kurri here, are numbered to 99. Not a bad finish to a pretty decent box. I am going to keep this one!

So it was fun ripping some packs as it has been a while. I hope to do some more rips in the New Year, I think my next box is likely going to be Heroes and Prospects but....You never know when a deal comes your way that you can't pass up!

For anyone interested, I also have two BCCG graded Crosby Phenomenal Beginnings cards that I also looking to trade. One is a 9 and the other a 10. I am not looking to get much for them (a Cool Devils rookie or auto would take one or both), so if you want a cheap trade let me know, I am done owning them!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Two years ago today, I decided to start my own blog. Really didn't care if anyone ever read it and did it more for the fun of it. After a year of writing extremely sporadically, I got the itch to do more posts and try and attract a few readers. I changed from doing a blog purely for me to a blog where I could interact with other collectors and maybe even make a couple trades.

Sure enough my second year of writing attracted over 16000 more hits than the previous year and I have you other bloggers to thank for it. Many of you linked my blog to your own and I think being apart of a network is much more rewarding that doing it for one's self.

I haven't been breaking packs much over the last couple months and the reason is I am trying to get more vintage. I have picked up more 51's and I hope to get them up soon and I have been working on a couple PC's. First is Benny Woit. I have two of his cards so far, they are here and here. With only a half dozen or so cards to his name, Benny Woit shouldn't be too hard to accomplish and I am now two cards closer!

52-53 Parkhurst

Here is the front side of the card. The picture is very similar to the 51-52 Parkhurst card and this isn't uncommon for the 52-53 Parkhurst set either. The card is a little larger than the 51-52 and features the autograph of the player on the front as well.

The backsides of the card feature stats, a small write-up an offer for a storage album for the 52-53 set. If anyone has a picture of this album I would love to see it sometime! Heck, maybe even try and own one. As you can see from his stats he put up a decent season for a defenseman.

54-55 Parkhurst Premium Back

LOVE THIS CARD. Everything from the black and white/colour mix to the expression of the player's faces. You can see Terry Sawchuck really well in this shot and I even wonder if it is this glove that I own a small piece of! Just a cool card in my books and my favourite of the collection thus far.

Here is what the premium back looks like on this card.

So there you have it, I am two cards closer and two years in. I look forward to another year of blogging and sharing stories with my fellow bloggers and casual readers! All the best to everyone in 2012 and I hope everyone has a great New Year!

Friday, December 23, 2011

My little hobby shop has been getting cooler by the week. First they went from having a few stray singles that didn't interest me much and ball point pen autos to having some vintage and current rookies. Certainly a nice move especially because the prices are all great. Then they added some quarter boxes and more vintage cards. I had to restrain myself from buying a 71-72 Topps Howe card. He wanted 50 for it, but there was a small ball point pen mark on the back that dissuaded me from buying.

The latest addition was two boxes loaded with singles marked 4 for a dollar or 50 cents each. I start sifting and boy did I like what I saw! Sure there was junk I already owned, but there was also some cool retro singles as well as an autograph. So sit back and see what I found!

Milan Michalek 03-04 Titanium RetailProbably the most "valuable" card to me. I don't have any of his rookies so it was nice to land this for a quarter.

Gump Worsley 71-72 OPCThis card is likely VG but it was a fun card to find in the box and one I don't own so it was a no brainer for 2-bits.

Eric Daze 02-03 Stadium Club Lone Star SignaturesThis card had the highest book value at 20 bucks, was pretty surprised to see an auto in there and couldn't pass this one up. I remember when Daze was a goal scoring beast with 8 straight 20+ goal seasons.

Gerry Ehman 59-60 Parkhurst

His rookie card! Not in bad shape either!

Gary Edmundson 59-60 Parkhurst

Another rookie, shame for the ink about his head.

Mats Naslund 83-84 OPCThe only card in the lot that wasn't a quarter. This set me back a dollar, but I needed it for my set so I certainly couldn't leave it!

Garry Veneruzzo 68-69 ToppsI learned something buying this rookie card for a buck, Gary was born in the same part of Thunder Bay that I was! I had never heard of him prior to buying this card so not only do I have his rookie, I also had a history lesson.

Claude Provost 62-63 ParkhurstCard is in pretty rough shape, but I didn't have any from this set before so it was nice to find it.

Bill Reay 74-75 ToppsLooks like his lucky hat would soon let him down as he was fired 2 1/2 seasons after this card was produced. I learned that I will be needed his rookie card to help finish my 51-52 set... Kinda neat info..

Albert Langlois 60-61 ParkhurstMy first from this set as well, almost my second as I left a $20 Jacques Plante card behind. Crazy you ask? Maybe, but the card was pretty rough....creases and pen marks....I still wonder about it though..

Earl Ingarfield 60-61 ToppsHis name is Earl and he is my first of two from this set.

Larry Regan 60-61 ParkhurstLarry looks a bit like Norm MacDonald to me, according to the back of the card he "is a real dipsy-doodler and a treat to watch". The back of the card also says he "had a bad injury due to a gimpy knee". They sure don't write card backs like that anymore!

Jean Guy Talbot 61-62 ParkhurstLooks like the Canadiens were Irish for a year, these cards had cartoons on the back with a funny rub and reveal punchline. This one had something about soap...

Ryan Suter 05-06 Power PlayA few modern rookies grabbed my attention. I didn't have any of his yet and for 25 cents I would buy them up all day. He is a beast on the blue-line.

Andrej Meszaros 05-06 Power PlayHasn't been able to be as offensive as his Ottawa days, but should figure into the long-term plays for Philly. Lots of talent and a nice deal at 25 cents.

Rick DiPietro 00-01 UD ReserveMuch like the Islanders I wonder why I spent money on this guy. I dropped a quarter, they dropped 67.5 million. I guess my gamble isn't as bad!

There you have it. A nice raiding of the box, and I hope they keep them coming as it will certainly have be back time and time again. Overall, it cost me 6.90 with taxes and it landed me 21 cards. I picked up a few other singles in subsequent trips which I will have to post at another time!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

This is currently THE BEST Parkie in my set. I suspected when I put a bid on this auction I would like the results but when it arrived I was blown away. The card is clean, crease free and even has a sharp corner. The other three are varying degrees of roundness but in all, a pretty decent card. If it were graded, I think it could be as high as a 5....certainly at least a 4, but then again who knows. I would be curious to know what some of the grading experts out there think!

Front side

Back side
Not only is this card in pretty decent shape, but Tom Johnson was one hell of a player. Tom is a HOF'er who won 6 Cups as an all-star defenseman as well as an addition Cup as the head coach of the Bruins. In addition, he won an eighth cup as a member of Bruins management. Many think if Tom wasn't holding down the fort while Doug Harvey was rushing up the ice, he too could have been a pretty good offensive defenseman. Tom was no slouch on either end of the ice playing sound defensive hockey while still racking up 264 points in 979 career games. His finest offensive season happened in 58-59 which had him winning the Norris Trophy and scoring 39 points in 70 games including 10 goals.

I am pretty pleased to add this card into my set and I hope to get a few more in the future that are as good looking as this.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

On Saturday, history was made in Devils land. If you didn't realize it, don't feel bad. Many players on the Devils also didn't realize it. However, that doesn't diminish the accomplishment and that is Patrik Elias has surpassed John MacLean as the Devils all-time leading goal scorer. His current total is 348 goals and counting. Elias is also the franchise leader in points with 845 which he did in 993 career games with the Devils. Could he reach a 1000 points? Hard to say, he is 35 years old and currently having a great season in the second last year of his contract. We can expect one more season in the black and red for Elias which has him needing 155 points in the next season and a half. Reaching 1000 in that time period is not likely, but if he gets an extension with the Devils after that it is possible.

97-98 SP Authentic #185 Patrik Elias

Front Side

Front side shows a card that does have a 90's look to it, but certainly a pretty attractive design and one of the better ones to come out of that decade. In terms of Elias rookies, this is one of the more high-end releases. This is also my second favourite, with the BAP auto rookie parallel taking the cake. Upper Deck has continued the tradition through the years making Future Watch rookies one of the nicest on the market.

Back sideGreat write-up on the back, not a fan of the concentric rings radiating out from the Elias photo, but the layout is attractive on this card and the mask hologram is pretty cool too. This card came out during my retirement from collecting and was one I had to pick up when I was "filling in gaps" in my collection.

How I received the card: This was an eBay purchase about 2 years ago. I landed it with an opening bid of $0.99

Beckett Value: 3 - 8 dollars

Not sure if there are many Elias collectors out there, but he has put together a solid NHL career that will hopefully have a few more good games and maybe another Stanley Cup?.

A couple neat facts:

Patrik Elias is tied with a couple others for most career NHL overtime goals with 15.

Elias isn't the only big name rookie in the 97-98 SP Authentic set, Zdeno Chara also has a rookie card in that set and it currently books for about $12.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

The last of the Chicago Black Hawks lot of Parkies is Pete Babando. Unlike the previous three, this one is ungraded but when compared to the others it is roughly on the same grade. The corners are rough, but this one doesn't have any major creases and the back is pretty clean as well. The is one light crease on the upper left of the card.

Pete is best remembered as the player who scored the sudden death overtime goal for the Red Wings in 1950 to win the Stanley Cup. Pete saved his best performances in the regular season for his years in Chicago where his finest season is captured on this card. He would play 6 NHL seasons where he would score 86 goals, 73 assists and 159 points in 351 games.

One neat fact is he and Benny Woit (another member of the '50 Stanley Cup winning Red Wings) would find themselves playing together for the Clinton Comets of the ECHL during the 60's!

Monday, December 12, 2011

A little while back, I landed a few "rookie" cards from the local swap meet which included some Expo cards. It certainly has been my experience that Expo cards are often available for a lot cheaper than their regular release counterparts and aren't respected as much.

The other day I came across this card when looking for some game-used Alex Delvecchio cards:

What do you think of this card? What would you pay for it? Is it worth any less because it is an Expo card?

I fell in love with this card almost immediately. Sawchuck, Ullman, Delvecchio and Crozier, this was one cool collection of stars and I grew up idolizing Delvecchio so this one was a little more personal than some.

Sure I am part of the (majority/minority?) who likes these gimmick cards but lets face it, Sawchuck's glove, and some game-used "sweater" pieces of some pretty amazing NHL legends is something that many collectors can appreciate.

I talked it over with my wife (I do that sometimes) and came to a price of what I felt the card was worth to me and made that my highest bid. As time went by the price didn't change, I was in the lead. With about 5 min to go the price ticked up a little bit, but in the end I did have the winning bid and I was actually about 8 bucks below my max price.

Is this card any less cool then because it is an Expo card? I honestly think I would have paid the same for this card if it wasn't an Expo card. But I am curious to your thoughts? Do you buy Expo cards?

Monday, December 5, 2011

Here is the third of the PSA graded 51 Parkies I landed a few weeks ago. This one like the others is graded a 1, and really the most poor of the three. I also got a fourth from the same dealer and this one isn't graded but is the nicest of the four (expect that post in a day or so).

Like other two posts, Jim McFadden is also a Chicago Blackhawk and is giving the camera guy a snow job too! McFadden who was born in Ireland had a pretty successful NHL career which included a Calder Trophy in 1948 after putting up 24 goals and 48 points in just 60 games. He would continue the winning ways by earning a shot at playing in the All-Star game in 1950 and a Stanley Cup Championship in 1950!

In the end, McFadden would finish with 100 goals, 126 assists and 226 points in a career spanning 8 seasons and 412 games.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

The dealer that had the Fred Hucul card, also had several others and I ended up with a few of them. George Clare Martin was another PSA graded 1 card.

Like the previous card, this card has had it fair share of attention by minors and isn't in the best of shape. Like the previous card too, it features Clare giving the camera a snow job which looks pretty cool. A number of cards in this set have this type of photo which I think only adds the coolness and character.

Clare Martin was a defensemen who like other players in the 40's took time off from hockey to enlist in the military. After 5 years away from the game he came back to the Bruins and in the summer of '49 was traded to the Red Wings. Lucky for him as the Red Wings would go on to win the Cup in 1950 which would be his only Cup win.

Clare had a good NHL career which lasted 237 games where he scored 12 goals, 28 assists and 40 points.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Been a while since I have made a dent into the Parkhurst Project. But alas I found a few good deals online so the set has grown. Here is today's addition. I bought this card because the starting bid seemed like a good price, but at the same time it was the most I was willing to pay for the card. It just turns out that no one else wanted to make a bid so I won by default (Simpsons fan know it as the two greatest words in the english language!)

Anyway, here is the card.

I don't know why someone would grade a card that would get a grade of 1. It is like putting alloy rims with spinners on an 87 Dodge Caravan if you ask me. However, I was curious what a poor card looks like and as you can see the corners are round, and the card has some creasing. I have a feeling most of my cards in my set so far would be graded poor.

Fred Hucul has one of the longest gaps between NHL games I have ever seen. He played for the Blackhawks in the 50's with his last game being in 1954. He would toil in the minors after that season before emerging back in the NHL thanks to expansion with the St. Louis Blues in 1967 which is 13 years later!! He was a pretty good offensive defensemen in the minors breaking 50 points 8 times in the WHL, but in the NHL had pretty average numbers.

Well another month is in the books and that concludes Movember for many men (and boys) across the world. Personally I enjoyed growing a pathetic caterpiller on my upper lip, but at the same time, it was time to let it go. When I think of moustaches, there are lots of examples of NHL'ers who sported them for looks and nothing else. When I think of cardboard ones, Denis Savard is the first one that pops in my mind. Hard to believe with Lanny and others out there, but truly for me it is Denis Savard.

In particular, I would have to say it is the 90-91 Bowman Denis Savard card to be precise. I remember seeing this card often as a kid and even though I never owned the card until recently, it is funny how these images stick in your mind. Take a look for yourself, nothing super special, but a nice close up and a pretty well grown specimen on his face:

Here is the unconventional approach Bowman took to displaying their stats. Kinda neat, but never really caught on with other card manufacturers.

Personally, I didn't have any respect for this release when it first came out. One UD came out in 1990 I was a bit of a snob against other releases, but fact is this set has grown on me over the years and I even made a trade with Sal from puckjunk.com for the complete set with hattrick inserts.

Beckett Value: 0.08 - 0.25 dollars

How I received the card: Part of a set I got via trade

How about yourselves? Did you attempt a Movember 'stache? How well did it turn out?

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

A while back after landing a 72-73 Topps Yvan Cournoyer I decided I would write to see if he would sign it for me. Well the results are in and no success. Much like Captain Canuck said, he sends along a different card signed along with your original unsigned. I am certainly not disappointed and am happy a legend would be so kind to sign for a guy like me!

Saturday, November 26, 2011

I personally don't have a list, but there are a few cards I really want to own before I die and the 80-81 Topps/OPC Gretzky card is one of them! When I had the chance to land one online for less than 20 bucks I thought I would jump at the chance. Of course, you can always land a Gretzky card for under 20 bucks, but I wanted one in great shape. Wanting a quality 80-81 Gretz means I probably would need to go for a Topps version and sure enough I landed one.

The card isn't mint. The scratch and reveal puck has a tiny bit of scuffing and the card is off-centered but, apart from that, there is nothing wrong with this card (unless you have a problem with the treat on the back). I took the photo of the card in the top-loader it arrived in because I don't have a screw-down for it yet.

The reason why I have always wanted to own the card is because it is a sweet photo. It is iconic to my childhood as a collector seeing it in the display cases of a few sportscard stores and not being able to afford it. But there is more, in my second life as a collector, I have come to realize that if there wasn't a WHA, this WOULD be a Gretzky rookie. In addition, Gretzky's rookie (correct me if I am wrong) actually features a photo from his WHA playing days so this card would actually feature The Great One during his first NHL season in which he SHOULD have won the Calder Trophy.

Here is the front side. You can see it is a bit of a miscut.

Here is the backside with a little waxy treat.When I read that there was a Wax Stain on the card I knew I had to throw a minimum bid on this card. When I was the winner, I was probably as excited for this card as I have for any I have received in the last couple of years.

The card certainly has some significance to me because of years and wanting and in the short term it certainly will be the best Gretzky card I think I will own. I still am not in possession of a Gretzky rookie, but someday when the time is right I hope to get that one too.

So I am curious, do you have a list of must own cards? Or are you like myself and there are cards you want to own but there is no formal list. What cards are on that list?

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Love him or hate him, damn he is good! Not just because I have him on one fantasy team (2nd round pick), but 4 points in his first game back and hopefully a chance to show fans what he is really capable of when he hits his prime! I am a fan of him, and I wish him all the best this season and future seasons.

05-06 Parkhurst #657

Front side

I am a big fan of the rookies in this set. I don't think it is just because it is a Parkhurst release, but I think it is due because it is an attractive set of cards. The rookies are simple yet eye catching and I think this card is a good example of the Parkhurst Rookies.

Back sideLike the front, the backside is attractive and simple looking. I think each passing year has these cards looking better and better to me. At some point I will grab a few boxes and try and build the set. I did buy a retail box once hoping to pull this card. No such luck, but I did pull a few other gem rookies but no Crosby. Ovechkin of course has a rookie in this set which I did pull from a repack box.